Drapery process machine

ABSTRACT

A drapery-processing machine includes an endless loop elevator drive associated with opposite sides of a vertical rectangular frame with a drapery support bar and a pleater bar connected to the elevator drive in a manner causing them to simultaneously move away from and toward a central point while tracking on the sides of the frame and which also includes an indexing system to continuously register their relative separation. Included in the drapery support bar are a plurality of special locking lugs which can be independently or simultaneously released for securely holding the top pleats of a drapery and the pleater bar includes several pleater combs which are shifted laterally to grip the bottom pleats on both sides of their respective folds on opposite sides of an associated pleating paddle inserted between each fold whereby the drapery can be properly stretched to the proper length without damaging the fabric during finishing operations.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Vernon D. Clement 5939 Mack Road, Sacramento, Calif.

95823 [21] Appl. No. 19,657 [22] Filed Mar. 16, 1970 [45] Patented Oct. 19,1971

[54] DRAPERY PROCESS MACHINE 8 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin Attorney-Fryer, Tjensvold, Feix, Phillips & Lempio ABSTRACT: A drapery-processing machine includes an endless loop elevator drive associated with opposite sides of a vertical rectangular frame with a drapery support bar and a pleater bar connected to the elevator drive in a manner causing them to simultaneously move away from and toward a central point while tracking on the sides of the frame and which also includes an indexing system to continuously register their relative separation. Included in the drapery support bar are a plurality of special locking lugs which can be independently or simultaneously released for securely holding the top pleats of a drapery and the pleater bar includes several pleater combs which are shifted laterally to grip the bottom pleats on both sides of their respective folds on opposite sides of an associated pleating paddle inserted between each fold whereby the drapery can be properly stretched to the proper length without damaging the fabric during finishing operations.

PATENTEDum 19 l97| 3.513.967

' sum 10F 3 INVENTOR. VERNON D. CLEMENT ATTORNEYS PATENTEDnm 19 IQTI 3.513.967

- I sum 20F 3 INVENTOR. VERNON D. CLEMENT ATTORNEYS 1 DRAPERY PROCESS MACHINE BACKGROUND OF INVENTION A number of patents have been issued on machines for pleating, finishing and controlling the dimension of draperies which have been cleaned. Typical of such patents are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,315,852 and 3,424,356 issued to Getchell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,661 issued to Kirche and U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,0l issued to Reed. Due to the increased employment of draperies, in both commercial and residential buildings, machines such as disclosed in the above patents have been designed to increase the speed of processing and finishing draperies which have been cleaned.

Since cleaning draperies, due to temporary shrinkage, can change their length, develop irregular top and bottom hemlines and incur vertical edges which do not hang plumb when the drapery is rehung, it is necessary to employ passing and finishing steps to redimension each drapery after it has been cleaned. Machines of the type referenced above are employed in such processing and finishing operation and the instant invention is likewise utilized in such processing and finishing operations.

One of the difficulties the instant invention is designed to overcome is achieving adequate support of the drapery fabric when the drapery is redimensioned in the new machine to improve this process.

A further object is to provide a more economical drapery processing machine with increased capacity due to the incorporation of labor and time saving features.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a continuous loop elevator drive system which is quiet and free of potentially soiling lubricants and which is also double acting for increased processing speed.

Further, it is an object to provide a convenient and easily viewable index for dimensioning a drapery being pleated, steamed and stretched in the machine.

A special object is the provision of a drapery support bar which includes collectively or independently releasable wedging locks for securely holding the gathered top pleats of a drapery without damaging the fabric or the necessity of using hooks, pins, etc.

Another special object is the provision of a pleater bar having a rack of floating pleating paddles which properly pleat the drapery during processing and laterally shiftable locking combs which clamp each pleat on both sides of its associated pleating paddle when the latching lever is shifted.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from perusal of the specification and drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objects and advantages are accomplished in a drapery-processing machine which includes a base, a frame mounted on the base having spaced-apart vertical guide members, an endless loop elevator drive mounted on the frame having two horizontally spaced-apart endless loops powered by a common shaft member associated with the top and bottom of the frame, drive means for di-directional movement of the elevator system, a drapery support bar positioned between the vertical guide members and having its opposite ends respectively connected to the spaced-apart endless loops on one side of the machine, said drapery support bar having guides cooperating with the vertical guide members at its opposite ends, a pleater bar positioned between said vertical guide members and having its opposite ends respectively connected to the spaced-apart endless loops on the other side of the machine whereby the drapery support and pleater bar will simultaneously move in opposite directions while retaining parallel alignment when the elevator system drives, the pleater bar having guides cooperating with the vertical guide members, and indexing means associated with one of the endless loops and a vertical guide'member for continuously registering the vertical separation of the drapery support bar and pleater bar at all times.

The drapery support bar includes a plurality of spaced-apart downwardly projecting fingers each of which includes an associated spring-loaded locking lug mounted to increase wedging engagement pressure on a gathered top pleat of a drapery inserted between a finger and its associated lug as the drapery is pulled downwardly. Each locking lug includes a separate release lever which cooperates with a release bar whereby each locking lug may be released independently or all can be released collectively through the action of said release bar.

The pleater bar includes a frame, a pair of laterally shiftable pleating combs and a rack of pleating paddles hinged to the frame. The pleating combs are maintained in registry during the pleating operation and the pleating paddles float between the combs in an interleaved manner during pleating. During stretching, the pleating combs are shifted laterally in opposite directions whereby each pleat is clamped on both sides of its pleating paddle to hold the fabric in a secure manner BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective of the new drapery-processing machine illustrating its general construction;

FIG. 2 is a broken away perspective of the indexing system showing its associated endless loop indice and vertical guide member components;

FIG. 3 is a broken away perspective of one end of the drapery support bar showing its attachment to an elevator endless loop and the glide assembly that cooperate with the vertical guide members;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 are elevations of portions of the drapery support bar with parts broken away to show its construction details;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the drapery support bar illustrating the pivoted sear spring arrangement of each locking lugs connection to the support bar;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the pleater frame with the paddle bar broken away showing its construction;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of one end of the pleater frame showing a drapery threading relationship;

FIG. 10 is a section of the pleater combs along line l0--l0 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a section of the pleater combs along line 11-11 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a plan view similar to FIG. 9 but'with the pleating combs shifted laterally for clamping the drapery fabric on both sides of the interleaved pleating paddles; and

FIG. 13 is a section of the pleating combs and interleaved pleating paddles along line 13-13 of FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT A perspective of the drapery-processing machine 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1 which includes a base 11, supporting the ends 12 of an inverted U-shaped channel frame 13 in base brackets 14. The channel frame includes two spaced-apart legs which form vertical guides on the track 15 that are connected across their top ends by a cross brace 16 and when the channel frame is attached to the base with the two base brackets on opposite sides, it forms a stable, sturdy rectangular frame for the drapery-processing machine. The base can be weighted to increase the stability of the machine, as desired, and may also include leveling devices at its corners, such as adjustable feet threaded in the base.

Also supported on the base 11 is a catch net 17 which is stretched between two spaced-apart support bars 18 that are detachably mounted on vertically projecting brackets 19 located at the four corners of the base and bolted or welded to the base. This catch net is employed to catch the bottom portions of a drapery as its is being processed in the machine to prevent its bottom from contacting the floor where it may be soiled.

The spaced-apart vertical guides or tracks 15 which form the two vertical legs of the inverted U-shaped channel frame are rectangular in cross section and have a vertical guide slot or groove 20 in their inboard surface, as can best be seen in the breakaway portion of a leg illustrated in FIG. 2. Plastic caps may be employed on the edges of the vertical guide slot or groove on each of the guides or tracks which serve as stabilizing guides for the moving parts of the machine operated by its elevator drive system.

A quiet, smooth elevator drive system for the moving of various parts of the drapery-processing machine is employed which is manually powered through the handcrank 21. Alternatively, an electric motor with a stop-start-reverse control circuit could be employed in place of the handcrank which directly drives the crank pulley 22. This crank pulley is journaled on an adjustable bracket 23 that is slidably mounted on one of the two vertical guide or tracks as illustrated in FIG. 2. A ratchet wheel 24 is coupled to the crank pulley and a pawl 25 on the adjustable bracket can be manually engaged with the ratchet to prevent counterrotation of the crank pulley when the machine is in use since the crank pulley is free to rotate in either direction.

Crank pulley 22 is drivingly connected to a drive pulley 26 with a V-belt 27 whose tension is adjusted by sliding the adjustable bracket 23 along the vertical guide or track 15 and locking it at an appropriate position with a bolt 23a. In turn, the drive pulley is keyed to a horizontal drive shaft 28 which extends through the ends of the spaced-apart vertical guides or tracks 15 adjacent to their connection with base bracket 14 and base 11, as can be seen in FIG. 1. Suitable bearings (not shown) can be incorporated in the vertical guides or tracks for the horizontal drive shaft, if desired. Two elevator drive pulleys 29 are also keyed to the drive shaft 28 just inboard of each vertical guide or track so that they will rotate with the drive pulley and the drive shaft. A pair of long V-belts 30 are assembled in the elevator drive system and one passed over each elevator guide pulley and extend vertically to its associated idler pulley 31 supported on a common idler shaft 32 at the top of the drapery-processing machine. The idler shaft extends across the top of the machine generally parallel to the drive shaft and has its ends supported in an adjustable bearing pad 33, one mounted on the outboard side of each vertical guide or track 15, as can be seen in FIG. 1. By adjusting these bearing pads vertically, the proper tension on each of the elevator V-belts can be obtained, so there is no slippage in the elevator drive system. Continuous V-belting cut to length and connected with belting clips can be employed for forming the belts.

Idler pulleys 31 are keyed to the idler shaft so that both the V-belts on opposite sides on the machine will be maintained in a timed relationship, enabling the elevator drive system to achieve uniform displacement of the ends of the horizontally aligned elements which are carried by the elevator drive. With this arrangement, the horizontal alignment of the aligned elements of the machine will be maintained as they are moved vertically by the elevator drive.

A drapery support bar 40 and a pleater frame 41 are connected to portions of the elevator belts 30 on opposite sides of the machine and since one side of each belt moves downwardly as the other side moves upwardly, the drapery support bar and the pleater frame will be simultaneously moved apart or toward one another depending upon the direction of rotation of the handcrank 21 due to their attachment to opposite sides of the elevator V-belts. Generally the drapery support bar and the pleater frame will be vertically aligned and include glides which are inserted into the vertical slots or grooves 20 in guides or vertical in the vertical guides or tracks 15 so tracks 15 so they will be completely stabilized between these guides and the elevator system and the frame.

Since the two elevator belts 30 are maintained in a timed relationship, it is possible to use an indexing finger 42 adjustably mounted on a slide plate 43 on one of the vertical guides or tracks 15 and associated indices 44 on an adjacent V-belt 30 to indicate the length of a drapery in the machine that is stretched between the support bar 40 and pleater frame 41. This indexing arrangement is best illustrated in FIG. 2.

In FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 various details of the drapery support bar 40 are shown. This unit is specially constructed to support the top gathered portions B (top pleats) of a drapery C which is processed in the machine in a manner that the drapery can be stretched to the appropriate length. Each top pleat can be simply and conveniently released from the support bar by releasing each of the gathered potions B separately or all of them simultaneously. In the fabricated form of the drapery support bar, a U-shaped channel member 50 approximately ofa length equal to the width of the frame 13 has glides 51 mounted in each of its ends that will track in the vertical guide slots or grooves 20 when the channel member is horizontally inserted in the machine, as illustrated in FIG. 1. These glides can be plastic, such as tetrafluoroethylene or similar materials.

After the channel member 50 is inserted in the machine, belt clips 52 are employed to grip an elevator belt 30 on opposite sides of the machine and screws 53 associated with each clip are tightened to tightly grip the associated V-belt so that the channel member is securely attached in the elevator drive system. Both ends of the channel are connected in the same manner and the channel member will normally be secured in a level or horizontal position. Alternately, the clips can act as guides an screws passing through the clip and into the belt can be employed in the connection.

A plurality of equally spaced locking teeth 54 inserted perpendicularly in the channel member 50 to fabricate the drapery support bar 40 are fixedly secured thereto with countersunk flush rivets 55 or by some other means such as welding to form a comblike structure having parallel spaced teeth. At the outer end of each locking tooth is a locking lug 56 which is pivoted at the end of its associated tooth with one end of wire release lever 57 which extends under the lug and reverses direction to provide a pivot pin for the connection of the locking lug to the end of its associated tooth in apertures provided for this purpose. The length of each locking lug is slightly greater than the distance between adjacent locking teeth so that its outboard end will contact the next adjacent tooth as it swings toward its adjacent tooth, as can be seen in FIG. 4. Each locking lug includes a sear spring 58 held by its pivot pin which urges its outboard end downwardly against its adjacent locking tooth and the surface of the tooth which is engaged by the outboard end of a locking lug may include a latex or similar gripping coating A to insure that the pleat cannot slip.

The handle portion 57a each wire release lever extends vertically upwardly from the central portion of its associated locking lug to form a release arm for manually operating each locking lug independently. As can be seen in FIG. 6 each wire release lever passes under its associated locking lug 56 and then folds back forming the pivot shaft for the locking lug. Thus when any one of the handle portions 570 illustrated in FIG. 4 is pushed to the right (rotated clockwise) it will lift the outboard or distal end of its associated locking lug upwardly toward bar 50, moving this end away from surface A. All these wire release levers can be operated simultaneously also be a reciprocal release bar 59 contiguously mounted for reciprocal movement on the channel member 50 through pins 60 between these handle portions and the face of the channel member. The release bar includes a plurality of spaced pins or screws 61 that will engage as associated wire release lever when the release bar is shifted in one direction thereby gang releasing all the locking lugs simultaneously, as shown by the position of the release bar in FIG. 5.

A manual release lever 62 (see FIG. 1) through a drag link 63 and bracket 64 connected to the release bar 59 drives this bar to open all the locking lugs simultaneously for releasing a drapery whose processing has been completed. Thus, through the previously described arrangement, it can be appreciated that each locking lug can be operated independently or all of the lugs can be operated simultaneously in order to release the gathered portions B of a drapery C which have been inserted in the machine.

Particularly referring to FIG. 7, it can be seen that the gathered portions B at the top of an illustrated drapery C are pushed upwardly to pass between the locking lug and an adjacent tooth to insert this portion of the drapery. It may be pushed upwardly until it contacts the bottom of the channel member 50 to provide accurate spacing across the top of the machine. Each locking lug provides little resistance to the upward travel of the drapery material but when an attempt is made to pull the locked portion of the drapery downward, the locking lug is wedged toward its associated tooth, increasing its gripping force on the drapery material. Thus, a very positive lock and hold mechanism is provided herein. Further, each locking mechanism is acting on a substantial area of each gathered portion of a drapery and therefore is unlikely to cut, damage or mark the drapery processed in the machine.

As a result of the above construction, the drapery support bar 40 provides an excellent and improved structure for supporting the top ends of the drapery processed in finishing machines and the like. Even if a gathered portion 13 of the drapery C is inserted improperly when the drapery is being inserted into the machine, the operator can merely release the associated locking lugs separately and reposition this portion for proper alignment. This ability to operate the locking mechanisms independently eliminates the necessity for conventionally prealigning all the gathered portions of the drapery before the locking mechanism is set which is considerably more laborious and time consuming.

Like the drapery support bar 40, the pleater frame 41 employs a novel structural design and arrangement to provide improved performance. In FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, the details of the pleater frame are more fully disclosed. Its main structural parts consist of a pair of spaced-apart end plates 70 which are separated and connected together along one of their vertical edges 700 with a spanner plate 71 which is approximately the same length as the width between the legs forming tracks 15 of the channel frame 13. Mounted on the outboard face of each end plate 70 is a glide 72 which is received in an associated vertical slot or groove of the tracks when the pleater frame is inserted in the machine, as shown in FIG. ll.

When the glides 72 on the opposite end plates are received in the vertical slot or groove 20 in their associated track or guide 15 on opposite sides of the channel frame, belt clips 73 are used to attach each end plate 70 to an adjacent portion of the elevator V-belt 30 on its side of the machine to connect the pleater frame to the elevator drive system. If desired, one of these clips can contain a micrometer-type adjustment (not shown) to provide fine adjustment to level the pleater frame. It is generally preferred that the drapery support bar 40 and the pleater frame 41 be oriented parallel to one another and generally horizontal so that bottoms of draperies stretched in the machine will hang evenly when attached to the supporting rod in a building in which they are employed.

Slidably mounted on the spanner plate 71 in two ofiset rows of longitudinally aligned elongated slots 74 with guide pins 75 are two identical pleating combs, an upper comb 76 and a lower comb 77, each of which contains a plurality of equally spaced pleating fingers 78 supported on a common backing 79 in which the guide pins 75 are fixed. The center guide pin of each pleating comb extends through its associated elongated slot in the spanner plate and projects outwardly therefrom.

On the projecting end of the center guide pin 75 of the upper pleating comb 76 the slotted end of a top lever 80 is attached in combination with a compression spring 811 arranged to urge the guide pin to one end of the slot and keepers securing the center guide pin in the slot and the spring to the lever. Similarly, a bottom lever 82 is associated with the center guide pin of the lower pleating comb 7'7 and likewise employs a compression spring 83 arranged to urge the guide pin to one end of its associated slot (opposite to the direction of the upper pin) in the bottom lever in which this pin is received, as best shown in FIG. 8. These arrangements provide a springloaded lost motion design that allows the lower end of a drapery (bottom) to be gripped securely under the influence of the spring pressure but does not cause the mechanical pressures to be applied in such a manner as to cut or damage the bottom pleated portions of the drapery secured in the pleater frame. Obviously, this spring-loaded lost motion design allows the pleater frame to hold draperies of various thickness and consistencies without difficulty.

The top and bottom levers and 82 are connected to a control handle 84 on opposite sides of its pivoted mounting 85 on spanner plate 71. As a result, the finger of the upper comb 78 and the lower comb 77 will move in opposite directions when the control handle is manipulated. The compression springs are therefore arranged to provide the appropriate resiliency for the direction of movement of the combs.

These pleating fingers 78 cooperate with a plurality of equally spaced pleating paddles which project from a paddle bar 91 which is hingedly connected with two spaced-apart arms 92 to the tops of the end plates 70 with pivot pins 93 so the pleating paddles can be swung into or away from the spaces between the fingers of upper and lower pleating combs when the fingers of these combs are in registry, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. By swinging the pleating paddles between the registered pleating fingers of the combs, the paddles become interleaved with the fingers, as illustrated best in FIGS. 10 and 12. Depending upon the depth of the pleats in the drapery being processed the interleaving will vary to a greater or lesser extent. For example, reference is made to FIG. 9 where the moderately sized pleats are shown threaded around the paddles and fingers before the drapery bottom is locked in the pleating frame.

Generally, the weight of the pleating paddles and the associated paddle bar will cause the paddles to float in the pleats of the drapery in an interleaved manner as the drapery support bar, with the gathered pleated portions of the drapery attached therein, moves upwardly and the pleating frame moves downwardly from center loading position. As a result, the pleating paddles will tend to orient the drapery pleats properly in the pleating frame during this operation. Of course the ends of the pleating paddles 90 and pleating fingers 78 are rounded so as not to catch the drapery material. When the pleater frame has reached the bottom edge of a drapery, the drapery will be threaded as illustrated in FIG. 9 of the drawings, and at this time, the bottom of the drapery can be aligned with the bottom of the pleater frame and the control handle 84 thrown to cause pleating combs 76 and 77 to shift longitudinally on the spanner plate 71 to lock the drapery in the pleater frame. Because of the arrangement in the connection of the upper and lower levers 80 and 82, the pleating fingers 78 of the two pleating combs will shift in opposite directions from the positions illustrated in FIG. 10 to the new positions illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. These actions of the pleating combs will lock each pleat on opposite faces of each paddle and thereby hold the drapery in a suitable and uniform manner for stretching it to a proper and accurate length by employing crank 21 and the indicator 42 along with pawl 25. When stretching to the appropriate length, the drapery in the machine must be steamed to permanently set its length and to allow the fabric to stretch.

After this processing of the drapery has been completed, the

pleating fingers of the pleating combs can be released by reverse actuation of the control handle and the drapery can then be handed at spaced locations for transport back of the customer. Lever 62 is then employed to release the drapery.

OPERATION Normally, the drapery-processing machine is adjusted so that the drapery support bar 40 and the pleater frame 41 are adjacent to one another, being parallely aligned in the center portion of the channel frame of the machine. At this time, the paddle bar 91 is raised and slots 94 in the ends of the arms 92 of the paddle bar allow them to drop downwardly so the outboard ends of these arms are caught behind ears 95 on the end plates 70 (see FIG. 8) which hold the paddle bar in the position illustrated in FIG. 1. With paddle bar so positioned, a drapery is inserted between the paddle bar and the pleater frame 41 with each of its gathered pleated tops then inserted between a separate locking tooth 54 and locking lug 56 in the drapery support bar. The paddle bar is then raised to disengage the ends of its arms from the ears and then dropped to the float position previously described and illustrated in FIG. 9. The drapery is then arranged so that its pleats are properly threaded around the paddles and pleating fingers and the bottom of the drapery is held by the catch net 17 to prevent soilmg.

The crank 21 is then employed to smoothly move the drapery support bar upwardly and the pleater frame downwardly so that the paddles and fingers comb the drapery pleat as the latter frame moves downwardly. The catch net 17 will support the bottom of the drapery until its top is raised by the drapery support bar 40 to a height that the drapery becomes free hanging therefrom. Thereafter, the crank is moved until the drapery is properly adjusted in the pleater frame and control handle 84 is then employed to lock the bottom of the drapery with its bottom edge parallel to the bottom of the pleater frame 41. Thereafter, the handcrank 21 can be used to stretch the drapery until the prescribed length is achieved. At the time the drapery is being stretched it is simultaneously steamed to enable the fabric to stretch. Thereafter, the control handle is released and the drapery is banded for removal from the machine in condition ready for delivery to a customer.

It should be appreciated that the mechanical construction of the components can be changed somewhat without departing from the invention, for example, the channel frame 13 could be fabricated from conduit and a roller guide system could be employed at the ends of the drapery support bar 40 and pleater frame 41.

lclaim:

1. In a drapery-processing machine, a horizontal support bar for retaining the top folds of a drapery being processed therein comprising:

an elongated support bar member having attachment means at each end for securing it in a drapery-processing machine in a horizontal orientation;

a plurality of downwardly projecting stationary teeth members mounted on said support bar in equally spaced aligned relationship whereby the top folds of a drapery can be inserted therebetween;

a plurality of locking lugs having a length greater than the space between adjacent teeth, one of said locking lugs pivoted on the end of each tooth with its distal end located intermediate of its pivoted end and said support bar; and

biasing means associated with each locking lug operable to urge its distal end toward the next adjacent tooth whereby said distal end will engage a fold of drapery inserted between said teeth and will increase its gripping pressure as the downward force on its retained fold increases.

2. The drapery support bar defined in claim 1 wherein each locking lug includes a release lever means attached thereto operable to switching its distal end away from the next adjacent tooth to release a fold of a drapery held by it and said next adjacent tooth.

3. The drapery support bar defined in claim 2 wherein all the release lever means are positioned in an aligned relationship and a reciprocal release member having a plurality of spaced projecting pins is slidably mounted on said elongated support bar and operable to engage all of said release lever means with its pins when moved in one direction whereby all locking levers will simultaneously release their locking lugs.

4. The crapery support bar defined in claim 3 wherein a manual operating means connected to reciprocal release member is employed to operate the same.

5. In a drapery-processing machine, a pleater frame for pleating the drapery fabric and gripping the bottom folds of a drapery being processed in the machine comprising:

a pair of spaced-apart end pleats having a spanner plate connecting said end plates along one of their respective edges to from a U-shaped box member, said end plates having coupling means for attaching the pleater frame in a drapery-processing machine in a level orientation;

a pair of identical pleater combs each having a plurality of projecting equally spaced-apart fingers, said pleater combs horizontally mounted for reciprocal movement on said spanner plate in side-by-side parallel relationship;

lever means pivotally mounted on said spanner plate having links on opposite sides of its pivoted connection respectively connecting it to said pair of identical pleater combs and operable to move said pleater combs in opposite directions when said lever is actuated whereby their fingers can be moved into and out of vertical registry; and

an elongated paddle bar having a plurality of projecting paddles evenly spaced along one of its surfaces, said paddle bar having arms swingably mounting it on said end plates whereby it can be swung into said U-shaped box member in a manner so that its projecting paddles will interdigitate between said fingers of said identical pleating combs when their fingers are in vertical registry and subsequent actuation of said lever will clamp both sides of a pleat fold draped about a paddle on both sides thereof as said fingers of the respective combs move out of vertical registry in opposite directions.

6. The pleater frame defined in claim 5 wherein the links respectively connecting the lever means with the pair of identical pleater combs each include a spring-biased lost motion connection with said associated pleater comb whereby various thicknesses of drapery fabric can be accommodated without damage.

7. An improved drapery-processing machine comprising:

a base supporting the machine having two spaced-apart vertical guide members fixedly mounted thereon;

an elevator means having a bottom horizontal cross-shaft member journaled respectively at the bottom ends of said vertical guide members, said cross-shaft member having an endless beltlike loup mounted at each ofits ends which extends upwardly along each associated vertical guide member to a loop support means located at the top of it associated vertical guide member;

a drive means connected to said elevator means operable to drive both of said endless loops in a timed relationship relative to one another in either direction;

a horizontal drapery support bar for supporting the top folds of a drapery having its opposite ends respectively connected to said endless loops along said vertical guide members to orient it horizontally, said support bar having a plurality of downwardly projecting stationary teeth means mounted thereon in aligned equally spaced relationship and a locking lug pivotally connected on the outboard end of each tooth, said locking lug having a length greater than the space between adjacent teeth and assembled with its distal end intermediate of the outboard end of its associated tooth and said support bar whereby it will engage the back surface of its next adjacent tooth as its distal end moves downwardly whereby a drapery fold inserted between its distal end and the next adjacent tooth will be held against downward movement, each of said locking lugs having biasing means urging it toward said next adjacent tooth; and

a pleater frame having clamping means to secure the bottom portions of a drapery being processed in the machine, said pleater frame extending between said vertical guide means in a horizontal manner and having coupling means respectively securing its opposite ends to said endless loops whereby said horizontal drapery support bar and said pleater frame will move in opposite directions when said elevator means is operated through said drive means.

ing paddles will interdigitate between said fingers of said identical pleating combs with their respective fingers in vertical registry when it is closed with said U-shaped box member and lever means for simultaneously moving said identical pleating combs in opposite directions whereby a fold surrounding a paddle will be clamped in opposite sides of such paddle by said fingers. 

1. In a drapery-processing machine, a horizontal support bar for retaining the top folds of a drapery being processed therein comprising: an elongated support bar member having attachment means at each end for securing it in a drapery-processing machine in a horizontal orientation; a plurality of downwardly projecting stationary teeth members mounted on said support bar in equally spaced aligned relationship whereby the top folds of a drapery can be inserted therebetween; a plurality of locking lugs having a length greater than the space between adjacent teeth, one of said locking lugs pivoted on the end of each tooth with its distal end located intermediate of its pivoted end and said support bar; and biasing means associated with each locking lug operable to urge its distal end toward the next adjacent tooth whereby said distal end will engage a fold of drapery inserted between said teeth and will increase its gripping pressure as the downward force on its retained fold increases.
 2. The drapery support bar defined in claim 1 wherein each locking lug includes a release lever means attached thereto operable to switching its distal end away from the next adjacent tooth to release a fold of a drapery held by it and said next adjacent tooth.
 3. The drapery support bar defined in claim 2 wherein all the release lever means are positioned in an aligned relationship and a reciprocal release member having a plurality of spaced projecting pins is slidably mounted on said elongated support bar and operable to engage all of said release lever means with its pins when moved in one direction whereby all locking levers will simultaneously release their locking lugs.
 4. The crapery support bar defined in claim 3 wherein a manual operating means connected to reciprocal release member is employed to operate the same.
 5. In a drapery-processing machine, a pleater frame for pleating the drapery fabric and gripping the bottom folds of a drapery being processed in the machine comprising: a pair of spaced-apart end pleats having a spanner plate connecting said end plates along one of their respective edges to from a U-shaped box member, said end plates having coupling means for attaching the pleater frame in a drapery-processing machine in a level orientation; a pair of identical pleater combs each having a plurality of projecting equally spaced-apart fingers, said pleater combs horizontally mounted for reciprocal movement on said spanner plate in side-by-side parallel relationship; lever means pivotally mounted on said spanner plate having links on opposite sides of its pivoted connection respectively connecting it to said pair of identical pleater combs and operable to move said pleater combs in opposite directions when said lever is actuated whereby their fingers can be moved into and out of vertical registry; and an elongated paddle bar having a plurality of projecting paddles evenly spaced along one of its surfaces, said paddle bar having arms swingably mounting it on said end plates whereby it can be swung into said U-shaped box member in a manner so that its projecting paddles will interdigitate between said fingers of said identical pleating combs when their fingers are in vertical registry and subsequent actuation of said lever will clamp both sides of a pleat fold draped about a paddle on both sides thereof as said fingers of the respective combS move out of vertical registry in opposite directions.
 6. The pleater frame defined in claim 5 wherein the links respectively connecting the lever means with the pair of identical pleater combs each include a spring-biased lost motion connection with said associated pleater comb whereby various thicknesses of drapery fabric can be accommodated without damage.
 7. An improved drapery-processing machine comprising: a base supporting the machine having two spaced-apart vertical guide members fixedly mounted thereon; an elevator means having a bottom horizontal cross-shaft member journaled respectively at the bottom ends of said vertical guide members, said cross-shaft member having an endless beltlike loup mounted at each of its ends which extends upwardly along each associated vertical guide member to a loop support means located at the top of it associated vertical guide member; a drive means connected to said elevator means operable to drive both of said endless loops in a timed relationship relative to one another in either direction; a horizontal drapery support bar for supporting the top folds of a drapery having its opposite ends respectively connected to said endless loops along said vertical guide members to orient it horizontally, said support bar having a plurality of downwardly projecting stationary teeth means mounted thereon in aligned equally spaced relationship and a locking lug pivotally connected on the outboard end of each tooth, said locking lug having a length greater than the space between adjacent teeth and assembled with its distal end intermediate of the outboard end of its associated tooth and said support bar whereby it will engage the back surface of its next adjacent tooth as its distal end moves downwardly whereby a drapery fold inserted between its distal end and the next adjacent tooth will be held against downward movement, each of said locking lugs having biasing means urging it toward said next adjacent tooth; and a pleater frame having clamping means to secure the bottom portions of a drapery being processed in the machine, said pleater frame extending between said vertical guide means in a horizontal manner and having coupling means respectively securing its opposite ends to said endless loops whereby said horizontal drapery support bar and said pleater frame will move in opposite directions when said elevator means is operated through said drive means.
 8. The improved drapery-processing machine defined in claim 7 wherein the pleater frame includes a U-shaped box member with a pair of identical pleater combs having a plurality of equally spaced projecting fingers reciprocally mounted therein in a horizontal side-by-side parallel relationship, an elongated paddle bar having a plurality of projecting paddles equally spaced along one of its surfaces swingably mounted on said U-shaped box members whereby its projecting paddles will interdigitate between said fingers of said identical pleating combs with their respective fingers in vertical registry when it is closed with said U-shaped box member and lever means for simultaneously moving said identical pleating combs in opposite directions whereby a fold surrounding a paddle will be clamped in opposite sides of such paddle by said fingers. 